We Tried 8 Trader Joe's Fruit Spreads And This Is The One We'll Be Using Every Morning

One of the facts about Trader Joe's: It's a store that wears many hats, offering up a wide variety of goods. Many customers remain mostly in the realm of Trader Joe's chocolate treats and frozen foods, but if you expand beyond typical go-tos and dig a little deeper in each aisle, there are quite a few hidden gems to be found — like an assortment of fruit jams, preserves, and spreads.

We can't say that Trader Joe's fruit spreads are completely unknown, as there's a good chance that you've picked up a jar of raspberry preserves here and there, or perhaps you stay attuned to the chain's seasonal offerings. But Trader Joe's actually offers a stacked lineup of fruit spreads, with a selection that even expands into curd and chutney. 

To spare you the task of having to sample each of Trader Joe's fruit spreads, we've done the hard work and have put every variety we could find to the test. This list includes brand staples like strawberry and blueberry preserves, although it also includes a seasonal option — green tea and yuzu spread — because Trader Joe's is always switching things up and giving us new products to try. For this ranking, I tasted each of the types of fruit preserves on a piece of plain white toast, and let my taste buds to do the rest of the work to determine the absolute best fruit spread that Trader Joe's has to offer. 

Most seasonal or temporary items are worth trying at Trader Joe's, as the store has a decent track record of dropping fan-favorite goods, even if they're only available for a short amount of time. Unfortunately, Trader Joe's new green tea and yuzu spread didn't exactly live up to the hype — in fact, this seasonal spread ranks last compared to its other fruity counterparts.

The problems with this spread started from the moment I opened the container and gave it a whiff. Overwhelmingly citrusy, to the point of almost smelling like a cleaning product, I could at least confirm that the yuzu element of this product was quite present. As I spread some of it onto a piece of toast, I noticed that the texture was a bit strange — it's incredibly watery and loose. 

Now, this product is classified as a spread, and not strictly a jelly, jam, or anything of the sorts, so the texture I was willing to forgive. But as for the taste, this spread just doesn't give justice to all of the actually tasty yuzu products out there. When done right, yuzu has a wonderful citrus flavor that's a bit more mellow than lemon, and wonderfully tangy. Those notes weren't really present here, and the pairing with green tea just seemed to temper any pleasant yuzu notes instead of highlighting them. 

Before detailing why lemon curd ranks pretty low on this list, I do want to clarify that it was a bit strange to pair this spread with a piece of toast. While creative uses for lemon curd abound in the dessert world, pairing this spread with white toast didn't give it a chance to shine in a way that it potentially could — so, while Trader Joe's lemon curd wouldn't be my go-to for breakfast toast, I do think this product has potential to shine in other ways, like in cookies or stuffed into crepes.

As for the flavor of this lemon curd, it's about what you'd expect from this kind of shelf-stable product — it's just okay. There's nothing overly unpleasant about this lemon curd, but it was missing the pizzazz that fresh, homemade curd spreads tend to have. The citrus notes felt dull and a bit off, while such notes would taste sharp, bright, and perfectly tangy in a homemade lemon curd (well, at least one that's made right). 

The texture of this lemon curd was pretty standard, and it really came down to the muted flavors and slightly strange citrus aftertaste that made this product a dud. Trust us, you're much better off making your own with a lemon curd recipe, even if this takes a little extra effort. 

We're already entered the realm of Trader Joe's fruit spreads that aren't bad by any means, though they just can't compete with higher-ranked alternatives. The brand's organic apricot preserves are a great example of a middle-ground TJ's spread — it tastes good enough, it's pretty versatile, and in its simplest iteration, it tastes pretty good on toast. But there was nothing that really stuck out about this jam, and of all the other spreads on this list, this one tasted the sweetest, and not necessarily in a good way.

The pros of Trader Joe's apricot preserves are that it had a nice, subtle apricot flavor, and the texture was pretty standard. The biggest con is that the jam was just a bit too sweet, and it almost seems like that sweetness is meant to compensate for the muted flavor of the fruit itself. Apricots are delicious on their own, but they're not exactly the strongest, in-your-face fruit out there, which is why the fruit flavor in this variety of preserves is considerably subtle. For some, this subtlety might work well, but for others (like me), a little more actual fruit flavor is necessary to help balance out all that sweetness. 

While I'd never tried fig butter before sampling it for this taste test, I figured I knew what it would taste like from my love for Fig Newton cookies — and as it turned out, I was pretty much completely right. Sweet, spreadable, and simply figgy, Trader Joe's Fig Butter is another good example of a fruit spread that isn't bad, but just isn't quite as good as the others. And, yes, if you've ever had Fig Newtons before, then you can easily guess what this fig butter tastes like, as the flavors and texture are pretty similar, although this butter is much more soft and spreadable than the filling in the classic cookies.

A perk to this fig butter is that it's unlike anything else on this list. That could've easily been a bad thing, but I think the distinction worked out well in this ranking. With subtle notes of honey present within the spread, this fig butter was perfectly pleasant, and if I liked figs more, then I'm sure it would've ranked a little bit higher. Though I did enjoy the fig butter as a whole, it's ultimately not a spread that I'd see myself repurchasing, much less using in my daily rotation. 

As an avid raspberry lover, I was almost certain that Trader Joe's raspberry preserves would rank higher on this list. Alas, the spread ended up being more of a middle-ground option once again, with nothing particularly bad about it, but nothing super notable worth remembering either. The raspberry flavor in this spread is present, though what I like most about raspberries is the tartness that accompanies the sweetness. In the case of these preserves, however, it was just sweetness through and through.

I can't exactly fault preserves for being too sweet, as it's kind of in the nature of the product, though I do wish there was a little tanginess in these preserves to help take the flavor over the edge. Notably, this jam is also chock-full of raspberry seeds, which isn't something that particularly bothers me, but for some people, that might be a deal-breaker, since seedless jams are available out there. Trader Joe's raspberry preserves could have been great, but instead, it's just a good product, and there's nothing terribly wrong with that.

Much like with the lemon curd, I knew right off the bat that sampling Trader Joe's Sri Lankan Organic Mango Chutney on a piece of toast wasn't going to give me the full scope of the product's potential — but, for the sake of consistency, I did it anyway. Unlike with the lemon curd, this chutney still shined, even though it was paired in a slightly unusual way. Much more savory than the other spreads on this list, I really enjoyed the flavor complexity that this mango chutney had to offer. It's a little bit salty, a little bit spiced, and a little bit sweet from the mango chunks.

When I first opened the chutney and smelled it, it reminded me of the smell of steak sauce, which makes sense considering that this product pairs well with roasted meats. The flavor, as previously mentioned, was very savory-forward, though the notes of cardamom and cinnamon helped add a complexity that the other spreads on this list didn't have. Ultimately, chutney could only taste so good on a piece of toast, though I have no doubt that this product would taste amazing when used for more creative culinary purposes. 

The runner-up in this ranking of Trader Joe's fruit spreads is none other than organic blueberry preserves — a tasty, versatile spread that left me with virtually no complaints. I knew that such a classic jam-like fruit spread would pair exceptionally well with toast, and I was accurate in that prediction. Even on a piece of unbuttered, plain white toast, the blueberry preserves still made this less-than-exciting breakfast staple taste pretty good, offering up classic blueberry flavor with plenty of sweetness to back it up.

Something interesting about blueberry preserves is that the spread doesn't exactly taste like blueberries — and this goes for just about any blueberry preserves or jam out there, not just this TJ's variety. Instead, preserves taste more like a compote, and the flavor of the blueberries kind of melds into a more general fruitiness. This is all to say that the flavor of these preserves works quite well, and while it doesn't strictly taste like fresh blueberries, it doesn't have to. I could picture myself pairing this blueberry spread with pancakes, waffles, crepes, and just about anything that might benefit from a dollop of fruit-forward sweetness.

Though grape seemed to be the standard jelly flavor when I was growing up, as an adult, it seems that strawberry has taken the throne. This sentiment is only further proven by the fact that Trader Joe's strawberry preserves take the top spot on this list. 

Simply put, these preserves have everything you could want in a fruit spread. This jam is sweet but not too sweet, easily spreadable, and has chunks of actual strawberries throughout, so you know that the fruit flavor isn't lacking.

Compared to the other spreads on this list, this variety of strawberry preserves manages to strike a balance that lower-ranking options struggled with, hence earning it the top spot on this list. In terms of versatility, the possibilities are nearly endless with this strawberry spread. Yes, I can confirm that it tastes good on toast, but it'd also be good on pancakes or waffles. You could dollop some onto an ice cream sundae, use it in a pan sauce, or spread some on a cracker topped with cheese. Thanks to its tasty flavor profile, abundance of strawberries, and versatility, Trader Joe's Strawberry Preserves made with Fresh Strawberries is a fruit spread that you simply can't go wrong with.

Since there's no cooking or real preparation required to enjoy any of these fruit spreads — it's really just a matter of cracking open the jars — the methodology for selecting the best one came down to taste. Now, I did smell and taste each spread on its own, but the typical method for eating these isn't by spooning it out of the jar directly into your mouth. So, I chose the most neutral vessel I could think of to help me sample each spread: plain, unbuttered toast. Though I did consider that toast wasn't necessarily the best pairing for some of the spreads (particularly the lemon curd and mango chutney), I do think it ultimately gave me a fair perception of how the product tasted and how it might taste with other food items.

Though the enjoyment of certain flavors is a subjective thing, I did try to consider each spread's main fruit component in a more objective light. For example, the yuzu spread was ranked in last place because the fruit flavor didn't live up to tastier yuzu products that I've tried before, and the pairing with green tea didn't do it any favors. Meanwhile, the strawberry preserves were ranked in first place, and the chunks of strawberry within the spread were true to how one might expect strawberries to taste — but much sweeter, of course.

Static Media owns and operates Tasting Table and Mashed.